Title 16 — ConservationRelease 119-73

§482h Coronado National Forest; mining rights

Title 16 › Chapter CHAPTER 2— - NATIONAL FORESTS › Subchapter SUBCHAPTER I— - ESTABLISHMENT AND ADMINISTRATION › § 482h

Last updated Apr 6, 2026|Official source

Summary

Starting March 15, 1940, mining claims made under U.S. mining laws on land within 400 feet of the center line of the Catalina Highway in the Coronado National Forest, Arizona (the highway begins at the forest's south boundary near the southeast corner of section 7, township 13 south, range 16 east, Gila and Salt River base and meridian, and runs north about 25 miles to Soldier Camp) do not give the locator general surface ownership. The locator may only occupy and use as much surface as is reasonably needed to prospect and mine, may only take the mineral deposits, and must follow the Coronado National Forest rules. Any land patent issued later for those locations will transfer only the mineral deposits and the limited right to use the surface for prospecting and mining under forest rules. Mining claims that were valid on March 15, 1940, and were kept up under the original U.S. and Arizona laws may be completed under those same laws.

Full Legal Text

Title 16, §482h

Conservation — Source: USLM XML via OLRC

On and after March 15, 1940, mining locations made under the mining laws of the United States upon lands within four hundred feet of the center line of the Catalina Highway, Coronado National Forest, Arizona, which highway begins at the south boundary of said national forest near the southeast corner of section 7, township 13 south, range 16 east, Gila and Salt River base and meridian, and runs in a general northerly direction for a distance of about twenty-five miles to Soldier Camp, shall confer on the locator no right to the surface of the land described in his location other than the right to occupy and use, under the rules and regulations relating to the administration of the Coronado National Forest, so much thereof as may be reasonably necessary to carry on prospecting and mining, and shall not authorize the taking of any resource other than the mineral deposits, or the occupancy of said land for any purpose other than prospecting and mining; and each patent issued thereafter under the United States mining laws upon a mineral location made upon lands within four hundred feet of said center line shall convey title only to the mineral deposits within said land and the right, subject to rules and regulations relating to the national forests, to occupy and use the surface of the land for prospecting and mining only: Provided, That valid mining claims within said lands existing on March 15, 1940, and thereafter maintained in compliance with the laws under which they were initiated and the laws of the State of Arizona may be perfected in accordance with the laws under which they were initiated.

Reference

Citations & Metadata

Citation

16 U.S.C. § 482h

Title 16 — Conservation

Last Updated

Apr 6, 2026

Release point: 119-73